


Three Strikes To Light A Match

by GraySonOfGotham



Series: Triplet Jokers AU [3]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Anger, Dysfunctional Family, Dysfunctional Relationships, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Joker Freeform - Freeform, Kidnapping, Lies, M/M, Slow Burn, Suspicious Activity, Triplet Jokers, Triplets, Violence, War, lots of lying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-10
Updated: 2018-05-18
Packaged: 2019-05-04 07:01:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14587575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GraySonOfGotham/pseuds/GraySonOfGotham
Summary: Damian did not arrive back at the manor like he was supposed to. He and his friend Jon are both suddenly missing. Robin and Superboy are nowhere to be seen either.So Daddy Bats tracks down the little bird only to find they had been kidnapped the very person Bruce has been trying to avoid for the last month. And where there was one of them, the other two could not be too far away.And Jay, poor Jay, just really wants another kiss. Was that too much to ask for?*Part 3 of Triplet Jokers AU





	1. Subtlety Is Not Lost

Bruce had not seen any of the Jokers since they had found Jay, nearly a month ago. The Batman part of Bruce was thankful. It meant that his city was safe. But at the same time, he was a little worried. He was not sure if he was worried for them or of their return.

Since that fateful day, however, Bruce has thrown himself into his work. He has done everything to get his mind off of the, ahem, kiss.

He is up early each morning and attending meetings and checking up on his company like a diligent owner should. On weekends, he would have a slew of girls following him around to parties, socials, or charity dinners. Then, at night, he would still sleuth around Gotham, fighting crime and keeping an eye out for the clowns. Not necessarily to keep them out of trouble, but to avoid them at all costs. Bruce was not sure he was ready to face them just yet.

But after an entire month of inactivity from them, Bruce knew something was bound to happen.

The dreaded day arrived a bit too soon for Bruce’s comfort.

He had been at work, in the middle of a board meeting, the third one in the past two weeks. Then, his private cell rang.

Fishing his phone one, Bruce looked at the screen. It was Alfred. His eyebrows scrunched together. Alfred never called, unless there was an emergency.

He smiled at the board members. “Excuse me, ladies, gentlemen.” He stepped out of the conference room.

“Alfred?” He asked. “What is it?”

“Sir, I don’t want to alarm you, but Master Damian was supposed to come back to the manor today after school. He is grounded from going to his little headquarters, correct?” Alfred asked through the phone. His voice gave nothing away.

“Yeah? Did he sneak off again?” Bruce asked, sighing. Teenagers were a lot more difficult to raise than it seemed.

Alfred coughed lightly. “Not exactly. Master Bruce, it seems that your son has disappeared. Along with his friend, young Master Jon.”

“Disappeared?” Bruce frowned. “What do you mean ‘disappeared’?”

“They seemed to have walked off school campus, going their separate ways, but were not seen again after. Master Damian never arrived home, and Mister Clark just phoned me, asking if Jon was with Damian. Apparently neither of them made it to their destinations. And neither Robin nor Superboy are anywhere to be seen. Mister Clark suspects foul play,” Alfred said. “It does smell a little suspicious.”

Bruce sighed. He was not in the mood for this. He only had three hours sleep last night, and he was running on pure coffee at this point. “Okay, maybe they got sidetracked? Or Damian actually did decide to sneak off and took Jon with him.”

Alfred hummed. “After your last threat a couple weeks ago, I doubt Master Damian will be breaking anymore rules anytime soon.”

Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose. A secretary poked her head out of the conference room. He smiled at her tiredly. “Okay, listen, Alfred. I need you to see if you can track him down. I’ll be over as soon as I can.”

“Yes, Master Bruce.”

The call ended and Bruce turned to the secretary. “I’m sorry, Miss…?”

“Harlow, sir,” she said with a tight smile.

“Miss Harlow. Please apologize to the board members for me. Then reschedule this meeting for a later date, will you? My son got into some trouble at school. I really need to go.” Bruce smiled and started down the hall. “Thank you!”

She sighed and ducked back into the conference room as Bruce ran off.

~

An abandoned building by the old port. A typical place to hide someone, but in broad daylight? Who had the guts to kidnap two kids from school in the middle of the day, from Metropolis no less, and transfer them all the way over to Gotham?

Bruce landed on top of the building silently, his cape following like a loyal shadow. He scanned the building for heat signatures. He only found two. One relatively unmoving, and one walking around in circles.

He touched his earpiece. “I traced Damian to the abandoned port. Meet me here as soon as you can.”

Then, he swung down and kicked one of the windows in, showering the warehouse floor with glass.

His eyes immediately drew to Damian, in his Robin uniform, who was tied up and hanging upside down by his feet, from the ceiling. And peeking around him, with an overly delighted smile, was Jay. The Joker out of all three Jokers he has been hoping to avoid the most.

“Batsy!” Jay crowed. “I haven’t seen you in… a month! How kind of you to visit! Could not resist coming to save your little birdie, could you?” He poked Damian, who yelled something at him from around the gag. “Last time I saw you, you’d run off so fast, like, _whoosh_ and you were gone.” Jay wagged his finger at Bruce. “Didn’t even say goodbye.”

Bruce narrowed his eyes at Jay. Something felt off. “Are you here _alone_?” He asked.

Jay gave him a slightly confused look. Then he understood. “Ah, yes. I haven’t, ah, brought anyone else to this little meeting of ours, if that’s what you’re asking. Well, aside from baby birdie here.” Jay circled around Damian one more time. “How long have you had this one?” He asked. “A couple years at least, right? Or did you switch ‘em out? He never seems to get any taller. Puny thing, this little birdie of yours. Grab this one off the streets too? Or-”

“Joker.”

“Yes?”

Bruce frowned at Jay. “Come over here.”

Jay’s grin grew. “Yeeees?” He slid over. Bruce grabbed his arm and pulled him to one side, out of Damian’s earshot.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Jay?” Bruce whispered. “Why did you kidnap my kid in the middle of the day?”

Jay shrugged innocently. “I got bored. Got no one to play with.”

“Seriously? Why couldn’t you bother one of your brothers instead?”

Jay scoffed. “I’ve been shut in with them for a month now. I’m tired of them. Wanted something new. Besides, I wanted to see if you were eating yourself up with guilt since our little, you know.”

“There are _other_ ways to get my attention, you know,” Bruce growled lowly.

Jay laughed. “Well, I didn’t think showing up at your office in a dress would be very appropriate. But maybe I’ll do that next time.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“But Brucie, I never see you during the day! And at night, everything’s so dark and dim and gloomy,” Jay pouted.

“I’m serious, Jay. You can’t just…” Bruce trailed off.

Realization dawned on Jay. “You haven’t told him anything.”

“I haven’t told _anyone_ anything,” Bruce said through gritted teeth.

Jay smirked. “So what, I’m like your dirty little secret?”

Bruce did not answer. He just glared at Jay, even though he could not see Bruce’s eyes.

Jay took a step back. “Alright then. Maybe you should beat me up a bit, otherwise baby bat over there will get a little suspicious, don’t you think? Wouldn’t want him to find out, now would we?”

Bruce hesitated. He did not particularly feel like punching Jay.

Jay sighed and rolled his eyes, his back to Damian. He reached forward and pressed something into Bruce’s hand. He leaned forward and whispered in Bruce’s ear.

“Ten minutes then, Batsy. Before Superbrat’s son goes boom-boom and bye-bye,” he whispered wetly.

Bruce punched him. Jay went sailing back, cackling. He flew through a dirty window and down three stories.

Just then, a window on the opposite end of the building broke and Superman flew in.

Bruce made a hasty decision. He headed towards Clark. He tossed the device, a little timer, to Clark. “Superboy’s hidden somewhere. We’ve less than ten minutes.”

Bruce quickly untied Damian, who fell down in a ungraceful heap. He quickly sat up and rubbed his wrists and ankles. He gave his father a weird look. “I think Jon’s at Ace chemicals,” he said.

Bruce and Clark gave him a look.

“Joker said so.”

“…So you’re going to believe him?” Bruce asked.

Damian shrugged. “Well, it’s all we have. Besides, he said he’s just doing this for some fun. Said, the challenge was more kidnapping us.” He growled. “Stupid move on my part. I was distracted.”

Clark clapped Damian on the shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay.” He turned to Bruce. “I’ll meet you at Ace.” He flies off, crashing through the ceiling, leaving a shower of debris to fall down on top of Bruce and Damian.

Bruce sighed. “C’mon, Robin. Let’s go.”

In the car, and zooming towards Ace Chemicals, Damian turned towards his father.

“What was all that about?” He asked.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“That whole _conversation_ you had with the Joker? Not to mention, he kind of _gave up_ without a fight, and you did not even bother chasing after him!” Damian listed off, ticking them off on his fingers. “It’s very suspicious. What did you say to him?”

Bruce did not answer.

“Father.”

“It is none of your business,” Bruce finally growled. “He won’t be causing any more trouble for a while.” Then, under his breath. “Hopefully.”

Damian’s eyes narrowed. “How can you be sure of that? It’s Joker. He’s never listened to you, nor can you trust what he says!”

Bruce pulled up in front of the building. “I know what I’m doing, Robin.” He got out of the car and stormed into the building, Damian hot on his heels.

Clark was just untying Jon, who looked like he had been hung in a similar position as Damian previously, over a large vat of steaming acid. Clark tossed something at Bruce.

“It’s fake. You may want to look into that. Seems suspicious if you ask me,” he said, lifting Jon to his feet. The boy smiled sheepishly at Damian, who glared at him.

Bruce caught the small contraption. It looked like a crudely made bomb. A timer was attached to the front, but as Clark mentioned, there were no actual components of a gun. And on the back, a folded Joker card had been stuck in the mess of wires.

It was suspicious. Even if Jay had meant no harm, he probably would have put a real bomb, especially if he knew that Bruce could easily get to Jon in time and get rid of the bomb.

So Bruce pocketed it.

Damian and Jon exchanged a few words, and then Clark pulled his son aside to chastise him and take him home, back to Metropolis. As they flew off, Bruce directed Damian back to the Batmobile.

They drove in silence, taking the longer route, away from the busiest parts of the city that would attract attention.

Then Damian broke the silence. “Father, I still think we need to look into this more. It was too harmless to not have ulterior motives. Neither Jon nor I even had much more than a bruise.”

“How did you even _get_ kidnapped?” Bruce asked. “You were supposed to wait for the helicopter after school!”

Damian sulked and turned to looked out the window. “…I went to go get ice cream with Jon, happy? He insisted on getting something from the stupid ice cream truck. I told him those things could not be trusted.” Then, he directed the conversation back to the original topic. “May I see the bomb?”

“No, you may not,” Bruce snapped. “You were grounded, and you _still_ disobeyed. You can be sure you’re not getting any special privileges for a while. That means, no patrol, no visits to Dick’s apartment, no assisting in any cases, and you will not be allowed to step a single toe into the cave.”

Damian’s mouth dropped open. “Father! You cannot just do that! What will I do with all that time? The thought of the impending boredom is nearly enough to send me six feet underground!”

“You can help Alfred with chores, you can read, you can do homework, you can learn a new skill. There are infinite possibilities. And these terms are non-negotiable. Until you learn to respect my wishes, you will be forced to abide by those rules.”

Bruce stopped the car, and then stepped out, leaving Damian to sulk by himself. He pulled off the cowl and tossed his gauntlets onto the table. He pulled the fake bomb out of his pocket, turning it over a few times in his hand before pulling the card out from where it had been tucked into the mess of wires.

It was stuck.

Bruce tugged a little harder and finally it came loose, along with some wires. Bruce let it unravel, eyebrows raising.

Finally, he spread the web of wires down onto the table. He smirked. A message, of course it was. In crude but legible letters, the message was simple and short: _12:00 WE TOWER_. Bruce unfolded the card. A bright red lipstick kiss mark and a messy and loopy letter J.

Bruce had a date.


	2. Where We're Most Comfortable

Bruce arrived five minutes before midnight. He dropped on top of Wayne Enterprises Tower and reeled in his grappling gun. His eyes fixed on the figure standing by the edge of the building, back to Bruce.

“You’re early,” Bruce commented as he walked over.

“So are you, darling,” Jay said, turning around. He smiled widely, unnervingly wide, in Bruce’s opinion, but no longer as sickening, which worried Bruce a bit more.

Bruce approached, and as he got closer, he noticed that Jay just kept smiling weirdly at him. Bruce’s eyes narrowed. “What?”

Jay struck out, lightning fast, slapping Bruce across the face. His cowl took most of the blunt of the blow, but his cheek still stung.

“What the hell?” Bruce exclaimed, guard raising.

Jay stalked forward until he was standing right in front of Bruce. Bruce looked directly at him and knew what was wrong. It wasn’t Jay.

“Jack.”

“Hello, Brucie,” Jack said with a sweet sing-song voice, but it made cold dread run down his spine. “Who were you going to meet up here? Hm? Is it one of your girlfriends? Is it that bothersome cat lady?” Jack giggled. “No, no, it wasn’t. Tell me, Bruce, who were you planning on meeting.” He rested a hand on Bruce’s chest and batted his eyelashes up at him.

“What are you doing here, Jack?” Bruce asked, ignoring the question. Something felt horribly wrong.

Jack’s smile disappeared in a blink. Cold fury spread across his features. “You were going to meet my sweet little Jay up here, weren’t you?” he asked, his voice still the same sing-song, taunting tone, but his expression gave it a whole other tone. “Weren’t you?” He hissed.

Bruce narrowed his eyes at Jack and stood his ground. He was not about to let himself get bullied. They work together once and Jack thinks that Bruce was just going to bend to his every will? “What if I was?” He asked. “It’s not like I exactly wanted to. He asked to meet me here. I’m just here to get answers.”

“Answers?” His head cocked to the side as he regarded Bruce. Bruce had never seen this side to Joker. It terrified him. “You want answers?” he asked in the chilling voice. “I’ll give you answers alright, _Batman_.”

“Jack…”

“Baby brother goes out for the first time in a month, telling John and I he’s going to meet up with Harley. He comes back a couple hours later, without curlers in his hair or new nail polish or a bag of eight shades of red lipstick. Instead, he grabs a tub of ice cream and locks himself in his room.” Jack laughed humorlessly, not even bothering to smile. “He refuses to talk, he refuses to come out, unless it was to get another damn tub of ice cream! He had eaten through three quarts of ice cream, threw up for twenty minutes before he told us anything! And guess who was at the bottom of all that? _You_.” Jack jabbed a finger at Bruce.

Bruce was thoroughly confused now. “What are you talking about?”

“I don’t care if you break his nose, if you break his arms, or if you do both. We can fix those easily. But it’s really, really low, Bruce, to go and break his heart. You know he’s sensitive. You know he’s too emotional for his own good. You know he’s way too fucking attached to you! I mean, hell, we all are, but Jay especially.”

Bruce shook his head in disbelief. “I did _what?_ ” He could not help but laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding me, right? I did not do anything to him! He kidnapped my kid, and I barely touched him! I let him go, did I not? How could I have broken his heart? I did not even know he… I didn’t even think he _liked_  me!”

Jack slapped Bruce hard again. This time, Bruce punched Jack back. Jack looked up slowly and spat blood onto the roof. A maniac smile grew on his face. “Oh, you ‘didn’t think he liked you’? You can’t play dumb with me, Bruce. I see right fucking through you. I’ll admit, Jay’s an emotional mess, feeling way too much. But anyone could see that he _liked_ you. Sure, it was started out in a twisted, obsessive way, like the one John harbors, but I would go as far as to say that he loves you, Bruce.”

They stared at each other silently for a moment. Bruce stumbled back a few times and sat down heavily on the edge of the building. Very few times in his life has he heard any confessions of love directed at him. His parents said it a few times, but he was not sure if it those times were real or his imagination. Alfred had told him a couple times when he was younger as well. Talia told had said it once, but Bruce shut her down so fast she never did again. And Dick also said it once, when he was Robin.

Bruce’s fingers curled around the edge of the stout wall.

Jack adopted a more resigned look now. “Look, Bruce, I did not mean to unload all that on you at once. But-”

Bruce took a deep breath and made a decision. He cut Jack off. “I don’t care.”

“Sorry?”

“I don’t care,” he repeated louder. “I can’t care. You- You and your brothers are _villains_ , Jack. I’m supposed to protect Gotham. I’m supposed to be the beacon of hope in the darkness. I can’t-” Bruce sighed heavily. He looked up to meet Jack’s eyes, which were half hidden in the shadows, but Bruce did not look away. “I’m sorry. I can’t keep doing this. Before? That was a one-time thing. It’s gone too far. We’re not friends. We’re not even supposed to be talking to each other conversationally, let alone chat about things like the future or families or love.”

Jack was silent for a long time. He just stood there, unmoving. Finally, he turned to leave. “Fine,” he said tightly. “You know what? I agree. I think it may be best if we put a stop to this. After all, I came here only for one thing. I want you to stay away from Jay.”

He walked to the opposite end of the building and picked up a coil of rope that had been lying there. He tossed it over the edge.

Determined to get the last word, Bruce called, “You make sure to keep him out of my way!”


	3. The War Is Upon Us

“Father has been acting suspiciously recently.”

“Hm? What do you mean? I haven’t noticed anything wrong.”

“Of course you haven’t. You haven’t been to the manor in weeks, Grayson.”

“I haven’t exactly noticed anything wrong with Bruce either. And I’ve been here, except for those few nights I fell asleep at the office.”

“Just trust me! Father won’t tell me anything and he’s acting very snappish.”

“We’re talking about the same person, right? Your old man, who is Batman? Hm, let’s see. Secretive, snappish, and suspicious. Nope, yeah, it fits the job description, tater tot.”

“Don’t call me that!”

“Hey, hey, guys. I’m sorry, Little D, but Jason’s right. Bruce is always like that.”

Damian huffed, glaring at his brothers. They were all gathered in the den, Jason and Dick on the couch, playing some video game, and Tim reading on the armchair. Damian stood in front of the TV, arms crossed and frowning.

“I’m telling you, it’s not normal! Just the other day, I saw him talking to the Joker. Talking. Not hitting, not strangling, talking. TALKING! Hello, is anyone listening to me?!” Damian growled when no one responded. He slapped Tim’s book out of his hand, pulled Dick’s remote out of his hand, and went for Jason’s. The older boy grabbed Damian’s wrist and squeezed.

“Let go,” Jason threatened.

Damian glared at him, but let go of the remote. Jason paused the game and tossed it aside.

Damian took a deep breath. “I think Father is hiding something. He has been working around the clock for the past month, being more involved in the company than he has in the past year. I mean, as much as I hate to admit it, Drake helps out enough with the company that Father does not need to intervene. And before that? He was secretive and working on a case alone. He did not even tell me. In fact, I suspected he was working with someone else on the case. He was often not at home, and he made Grayson cover his patrols. And recently, I caught him talking with the Joker. It wasn’t the usual talk and punch. Father pulled the Joker aside and while I could not hear them, the entire nature of their conversation – yes, conversation, close your mouth, Todd – seemed more urgent than anything.”

Damian looked at his brothers for any kind of emotion other than the seething rage on Jason’s part.

“So what do you think is up with him?” Tim asked.

Damian shrugged. “I haven’t figured that out yet. It’s not the first time he’s kept things from us, but it always leads to something bad. We need to find out before things get worse.”

“Worse how?” Dick asked, his face serious, a small frown playing on his face.

Damian’s mouth thinned into a line. “I have this bad feeling that the Joker is somehow manipulating Father.”

Jason stood up. “So let’s go blow up some clowns.”

“No,” Damian said. “Not yet, at least. We need to find out what’s going on. So we’re just going to go search for answers.”

~

It was not an easy task. A week of planning secretly, taking turns and watching Bruce brooding by himself, and making preparations had taken a toll on all of them.

Finally, they had a plan.

It was carefully orchestrated. Dick and Jason, the two of Bruce’s group of boys that he checked up on the least, was sent to track down the Joker. It was hard work, since he did not seem to be anywhere in Gotham at the moment.

But finally, another half a week later, they found him.

Dick had called Damian and Tim in, Damian having snuck out after he was supposed to go to bed, and they joined Jason and Dick in where the two of them had managed to sneak up on the Joker and catch him unawares. How they did that so easily baffled the other two.

Damian stood in front of the chair on which the Joker was tied. His head was hanging limply against his chest, and a thin line of blood ran down the side of his face. His hair looked mussed up and dirty. An entire arm of his suit got ripped off, and it looked like there was a large stab wound in his side, the blood soaking through his clothes.

Confused, Damian gave his older brothers a look. They were completely unharmed, not even breaking a sweat. Dick shrugged silently.

Damian turned back and kicked the chair hard. There was no response for a moment. Then, Joker’s head slowly lifted. He looked at the boys for a long time before a small smile curled onto his lips.

“Hm,” he chuckled lightly. “Batsy’s brood? What, he couldn’t show up himself?” he asked, ending in a snarl.

“Batman has better things to do,” Damian said in a cool voice.

“Oh, he has better things to do?” Joker giggled to himself. “Of course he does. Does it even surprise me anymore?” He tossed his long hair out of his face. He looked from face to face, taking them in. His eyes narrowed. “But why send all four?” He giggled again. “Maybe he does care.”

Jason got impatient. He fired his gun at the opposite wall. Joker’s laugh died slowly, but the grin stayed on his face as he turned slowly to face Jason.

“Ah, Mr. Red Hood,” Joker nodded in Jason’s direction. “An honor.”

“Shut the fuck up, Joker,” Jason growled. “We’re not here to play games. We want answers.”

“Answers? Oh, I think you need to find my good friend, the Riddler for that one. I’m afraid my specialty is one-liners,” Joker’s smile grew a slight bit.

Jason pointed the gun at Joker’s head. “Unlike Batman,” he growled. “I’m not afraid to kill.”

Joker smiled right up at him. “Then go ahead. I’m not exactly afraid to die. After all,” he looked Jason up and down. “You look pretty good for a dead man walking.”

Jason lost it. He fired, purposely missing and hitting Joker’s shoulder instead. He then moved forward to punch him. Dick grabbed his arm.

“We can’t-”

“Let go of me,” Jason said, breathing hard. “I’m not letting him walk away from this alive!”

Then, the window behind them broke, and a shadow came flying in, landing behind the boys.

They turned.

Bruce surveyed the scene. “What the hell is going on here?”

Damian stepped forward. “What do you think, Batman? We caught the Joker. Just asking a few questions. You know, protocol.”

Bruce’s eyes narrowed. Finally, he said. “Alright, I’ll handle it from here. Go back to the cave.” None of them moved. “ _Go_.”

The slowly filed out of the building, giving Bruce hard looks as they went. Bruce waited until they had all swung off into the night before he walked forward to where the Joker was tied up. His head had lolled down onto his chest again.

Bruce hesitated a moment before getting on his knees and lifting the Joker’s head up and inspecting the damage.

His eyes were closed.

“C’mon, look at me,” Bruce said, lightly slapping the side of his face.

His eyes slowly opened.

“Fuck, Jay,” Bruce breathed. “What the hell are you doing here?”

The corner of Jay’s lip curled up. “I was getting some air. Then your birds jumped me.”

“And you didn’t fight back?” Bruce asked, incredulous, as he worked to untie Jay.

Jay stretched his arms as bones popped back into more comfortable positions. “They surprised me. And...” he giggled. “I’ve got no strength, Batsy. Muscle relaxers. Took, like, eight of them.”

“Well, shit,” Bruce pulled Jay to his feet. He nearly crumpled. Sighing, Bruce slid an arm under Jay’s knees and another behind his back and lifted him easily. Jay was as light as his brother.

Bruce peered out of the building, looking for anyone watching before he slipped out, Jay in his arms. “Don’t pass out on me, now.”

“’M not,” Jay groaned. He shifted in Bruce’s arms, curling up against his chest. “Why’re you here, Bruce?” he asked quietly, but Bruce heard him.

Bruce was silent. He just kept walking. He entered the nearby alleyway where he had parked the Batmobile. He opened the passenger’s side and put Jay in the seat. He hesitated. Usually, he would have handcuffed Jay to the bar on the door. But he looked at Jay’s state and decided against it. But then, he stopped again. For all he knew, Jay could have lied. Jay could be faking it all and was just waiting for an opportune moment. So Bruce fished handcuffs from his utility belt.

Jay cracked an eye open when he heard the metal jingling. He sighed and just closed his eyes again. Resignation.

“Sorry,” Bruce said as he locked the cuffs around Jay’s wrists and looped it through the bar. He went around into the driver’s seat. He started the car, paused a moment, then he sighed and drove off.

~

“I told you,” Damian hissed. “Did you see that? He hesitated.”

Dick frowned. “You’re right. It is very odd. Something is definitely wrong here.”

Jason, who was pacing on the roof behind them, growled in frustration. “I just don’t understand why I couldn’t just kill the Joker! He can’t do it, so I don’t see why I can’t! He needs to get his priorities straight!”

Tim was leaning against the wall, tapping on a device. “He’s heading towards the Narrows. Should we follow?”

Damian stood. “Of course we should. If the Joker is seriously up to something, Batman seems to be in no position to protect himself.”

~

“Are you taking me to Arkham?” Jay asked, rolling his head to face Bruce.

Bruce kept his eyes on the road.

“Jack told me what you said,” Jay mused, laughing quietly. He breathed in sharply. “I don’t blame you, honestly. You want to know why? I mean, let’s face it. You’re you. And I’m me.” Jay looked out the window. “You’ve got your own set of problems to deal with, and I have mine, mostly consisting of a whole giant load of disorders according to those doctors at Arkham. I think my brothers and I have collected ‘em all between us…” He trailed off. “Do you think I’m actually crazy?”

Bruce was surprised by that question. He snuck Jay a side glance. He was staring solemnly out the window, no trace of a smile on his face.

“Aside from the whole murdering thing.”

“What, is that alone not crazy enough for you?” Bruce could not help but ask.

Jay hummed. “So you do think I’m crazy. Is that why you think it’s impossible for us?”

“Us?”

“A normal relationship.”

“I don’t think _I’m_ capable of having a normal relationship, let alone you.”

“I see.” Jay shifted in his seat, sitting up a bit straighter.

“I just don’t understand…” Bruce shook his head in disbelief again. “Jack said you- that you-” He could not say it.

“Loved you? He wasn’t wrong,” Jay said with the faintest hint of a smile. “Wish he hadn’t just straight out said it like that, but I think I do.”

“Do you even know what love is?” Bruce asked. “It’s- It’s not something most people joke about.”

Jay turned his head towards Bruce again. “No, you’re right, Bruce. I don’t know what love is. I don’t know what it feels like because I could not put a word to that emotion when I felt it. I only found the word to describe it when I felt that uncontrollable aching in my heart that no amount of painkillers could dull. But love isn’t that horrible suffocating, squeezing feeling of the chest. Love was that feeling before. An emotion I never bothered to actually feel. So no, I don’t know what love feels like.”

Bruce’s mouth felt like it had been stuffed with cotton balls. His heart was thudding against his chest, and he did not know how to respond to Jay’s story. But it seemed like Jay was not expecting a response. He turned away, pulling his legs up and curling into himself and resting his chin on his knees.

“So are you taking me to Arkham?” He asked quietly.

“No,” Bruce said gruffly.

“I actually think you should,” Jay said with a wry note to his voice. “Jack said they recently got upgrades. New drugs that made him see stars for hours on end. Said he felt detached from reality and had no real sense of time. I kind of want to forget this whole conversation right now.”

Bruce just drove on. He arrived at the Jokers’ safehouse. He hoped that they were still at this one, not another one somewhere else in Gotham.

He unlocked Jay and scooped him up again. He walked all the way up the top floor, and then to the end of the hall, where the Jokers had settled for the moment.

Bruce looked out of the window next to him as he waited for someone to open the door. Jay lay limply in his arms, his eyes closed, but not asleep.

Finally, the door opened a tiny bit. A gun was pointed at Bruce’s face. Jack’s frowning face was on the other side of the gun.

“What are you doing here?” Jack demanded. His eyes landed on Jay. Fury coursed through his entire body. “I told you to stay away from Jay, did I not?!”

Bruce glared at him. “I _found_ him,” he said.

“Let go of him,” Jack said. “Now.”

Sighing, Bruce dropped Jay, who dropped to the ground with a thump and a groan. Jack bent down and pulled his brother up, leaning him against the door frame.

“Jay, wake up,” Jack said. “What did he do to you? Hey, Jay!”

Jay’s eyes fluttered open. He smiled when he saw Jack. “Hey, Jack-o. Put… Put the gun down. He didn’t do anything to me.”

Jack glared at Bruce one more time before lowering the weapon. “Then who did?” He asked, his gaze never leaving Bruce’s.

Jay waved his hand generally. “His kids. But- But you shouldn’t…” his head drooped and he started falling. Bruce immediately reached out to catch him, hooking an arm around Jay’s waist.

“Don’t touch him!” Jack hissed, pulling his brother away roughly.

Bruce’s fists clenched. “I am not here to fight you, Jack.”

Jack pulled Jay inside. “I don’t care. Because your brood attacked Jay. So this is war, Bruce.”

Bruce’s eyes narrowed. “Excuse me? War-” Then, he whipped around and looked out the window. His eyes focused on the building across the way. Four dark shapes ducked under the roof edge.

~

They sat there, breathing hard, binoculars clutched in his hands.

None of them spoke for the longest time.

Then, Jason voiced what was on all of their minds.

“Fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So for my little speech today, I'm going to elaborate a little on the personalities of the brothers. John, the eldest, is the darker, a bit more sinister, evil mastermind of the Jokers. He does all the behind the scenes orchestrating, and he has more control over his emotions. He does not smile much, and sarcasm is his natural state. While his personality is more constant than that of his brothers, his actions are more unpredictable. Because while he is uber intelligent, it does not mean he's any less of a fighter, and when he's angry, he never shows it. He just keeps talking like he usually does until he kills you and tells you good night. Jack, the middle child, is a mix of John and Jay. Jack is unfortunately the most approachable of the three, despite his anger issues. Jack gets mad rather easily and it's the raging, breaking things, killing people, flames from hell kind of angry. He also cares about Jay fiercely and would do anything for his brother. Jack does not hate Bruce. Don't get him wrong, he loves the Batman, but he if he were to choose between Jay or Bats, the Dark Knight does not win that fight. And finally, dear Jay. Jay is the most flamboyant of the three, a stark opposite to John. He's usually really cheery and laughs a lot, but he also feels emotions to the greatest degrees. He can be really sad, or really happy, or on the occasion, really angry: an extreme case of bipolar disorder. He has very little that he holds higher than his dear Batsy. He loves chocolate, ice cream, and vanilla pudding. As the baby of the brothers, he often gets babied, which frustrates him to no end, and he thinks he lives in his brothers' shadows, so he always works to be better. 
> 
> Anyway, that's just a little refresher, or an introduction to tell the triplets a part.


	4. Sway

Bruce was furious.

“I told you to go back to the cave, didn’t I?!” He roared, slamming his gauntlets down on the table. “I told you I could handle it, didn’t I?! Why can’t you ever listen to me!”

“You had the Joker in your custody and instead of taking him to Arkham, you carry him back to his fucking safehouse and hand him off to a clone?” Jason yelled back. “I wonder why we don’t listen to you! You’ve been lying to us this whole time! There’s more than one Joker in Gotham? Is one of them fake? Are there more of them? Are there more of _you_? I don’t know what I can believe anymore at this point!”

“You should all just stay out of it!” Bruce yelled. “You already made things worse! They haven’t been causing any trouble in the past month because we had a mutual agreement of a kind. And now you go kidnap and beat up one of them, so now something bad is going to happen!”

Damian scoffed, crossing his arms. “Of course something bad is going to happen! It’s Joker we’re talking about! To think _you_ ever even considered that they might hold their end of whatever sick agreement you had…”

“You don’t understand,” Bruce growled. “There was a lot more to what you saw. You think you know the whole story, but you don’t. So just stay out of it until I manage to fix this!”

“We don’t have to fucking listen to you, Bruce!” Jason yelled. “You can’t control us. Technically, Dick, Tim and I can do whatever the fuck we feel like, and if we want to storm that safehouse of theirs, we will fucking do so.”

Dick, who had been listening to all of it quietly, spoke. “Bruce, you have to think about this logically. They’re psychopathic murderers and there are more than one of them. It’s dangerous for them to be running around Gotham. Whatever agreement you had with them obviously wasn’t working. One of them nearly shot you. We just want to know the truth.”

Bruce looked from face to face. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “You have no right knowing the truth. It’s not like you’ll believe it from me anyway.” He glared at them. “Get out.”

They all glared at Bruce for a while longer before filing out one by one, none of them saying a single word.

Bruce sat in the cave for a long time, just thinking.

What should he do now? He was rather alone on this issue. His children did not trust him anymore, and in all honesty, Bruce was not sure he trusted them completely either. And the Jokers? Jack seemed ready to pull the trigger on him had he not been carrying Jay. So who did Bruce actually have on his side? And if there really was going to be a rift between the Bats and the Jokers, Bruce needed to be on a side. And so far, both sides think to see him as a traitor.

Bruce sighed heavily and rubbed his temples, feeling the headache starting to throb. He stood.

He knew the boys quite well. They were harder to move than a liar trying to pick up Thor’s hammer. He will not be able to convince them.

So it looked like he would have to face Jack’s anger once again.

~

Bruce checked and double checked to make sure no one was following him this time. He could not risk it again.

He climbed through a window this time, the one in that was in the Jokers’ cramped kitchen. But it was not much of an actual kitchen. The sink had a couple mugs in it, but the stovetop rusty and old. The fridge hummed with electricity, but the cabinets were mostly open and filled with metal scraps, a few guns and knives, and a dusty jar of pickles.

The small kitchen table was also covered in metal pieces of all assortments, a medical kit, and some scraps of cloth that were stained with dark red splotches.

Bruce moved silently, into the living room. He stopped in surprise. The entire room was nearly bare. The mismatching furniture was mostly still in place, but John’s favorite vase was gone and the walls had been stripped bare of the polychromatic wallpaper. A couple cardboard boxes sat on the pink armchair.

Bruce walked into the hallway, and also found it suspiciously bare. Two hours ago, Bruce could have sworn there were sticky notes (Jack’s) high and low on the walls, paper with John’s messy scribble, and a single picture of the brothers in a chipped frame. All of them were gone. The door to John’s room was wide open, and from the hall, Bruce could see that it was completely empty as well. Even the bedsheets had been stripped away.

Jack’s door was also slightly ajar, but only the door to Jay’s room was closed firmly.

So Bruce knocked hesitantly.

There was no response.

“Jay?” He asked. “It’s- It’s me.”

To his surprise, the door opened. Jay stood there, looking up at him, mid-yawn and rubbing his eyes. “B-Bruce?” He asked, blinking himself awake.

“Were you asleep?” Bruce asked suspiciously.

Jay shuffled into his room, kicking a couple boxes away. His room seemed to be the fullest room the safe house. His bed was messy and recently slept in. His floor was covered in rumpled clothing and stray shoes. A single, bright purple stiletto stuck out from under the bed.

But what caught Bruce’s attention were the walls. Taped to nearly every inch of every wall, even covering bits of the ceiling, were drawings.

Amazing drawing of anything and everything.

Some were rough sketches of a rotting apple, a beetle, a glass of water. And other more detailed, shaded drawings – the cloudy skies of Gotham, the large evergreen tree in the center of Gotham that was decorated as the city’s Christmas tree each year, or a calloused had holding a handgun tightly.

And the most amazing drawings yet, were of people. There were several self-portraits, or maybe they were his brothers. Bruce recognized Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, the Riddler in a couple of them. And then, nearly half a wall dedicated to Bruce himself.

Most of the drawings were of Batman, standing in the rain, backlit by lightning, or leaping off a rooftop, beating up criminals. There were a few of him without the mask though. Bruce could tell that they were drawn based off of paparazzi photos, since the smiles were practiced and a very familiar.

“Did you draw these?” Bruce asked, slightly awed.

Jay shrugged. “I’m grounded a lot.”

Bruce raised an eyebrow. “But you’re what…? Thirty something? More?”

Jay quirked half a smile. “Not really sure anymore. But I don’t get much of a say in things. I just know I have a lot of time on my hands. Unlike you, I don’t have a day job.”

Bruce’s eyes drifted back to the drawings. A dragon breathing fire, a graceful ballerina, a skeleton lying in a meadow of beautiful flowers.

“These are amazing,” Bruce touched one of them lightly. A streak of charcoal marred his fingers. “You know, you totally could have done art for a living. Instead of…”

Jay laughed. “No, you see, I don’t think I’ve ever had the ability to draw? This… talent, if you want to call it that, came with the rest of this.” He gestured down at himself. Jay sat down heavily on the bed, his bare feet curling into the thin carpet.

Bruce looked around the room one more time. His eyes stopped on the wall dedicated to him. Jay followed his gaze.

He leaned over and pulled a drawing off of the wall gently. He handed it to Bruce. It was a drawing of Batman, crouching on top of a building, lips turned down in a scowl. A trickle of blood ran down from the corner of his mouth, but the Batman in the photo seemed more focused on whatever he was staring at in the distance.

“This was one of my firsts. I spent about three days on it, trying to make it perfect.” Jay blushed lightly. “I have to admit though, it does not come close to the real thing.”

Bruce’s eyebrows shot up. “I’m not being narcissistic, but it is incredible.” He took the drawing. Their fingers brushed. “It beats my crooked stick figures a hundred times over.”

Jay looked up at him. Their eyes met.

“Really?” Jay breathed.

“Yeah, really. Has no one ever complimented your art?” Bruce asked, not breaking the gaze.

“Never.”

Bruce found himself lowering himself slowly, sitting down next to Jay. Bruce was enchanted by the way the moonlight that spilled across Jay’s features, hiding the imperfections and highlighting the sharpness. Bruce lightly ran his thumb across Jay’s cheek, feeling the rough scar tissue here to remember it was even there.

Bruce leaned in slowly, his eyes lidding and closing completely when he kissed Jay. He pressed into the kiss a little harder when Jay’s breath hitched. Bruce pushed himself into Jay’s lap, forcing him back onto the bed.

They kissed slow but with a burning passion that incinerated all the guilt that had piled up inside of Bruce.

Jay tangled his hands in Bruce’s dark hair, pulling slightly. Bruce nipped gently at Jay’s lip, getting him to open up, and he deepened the kiss. Bruce pressed himself even closer to Jay.

His tongue licked sensuously into Jay’s mouth, and the latter moaned quietly. Their tongue’s danced a tango not unlike the ones they shared so many times atop a roof. A little give and little take.

Bruce felt the ridges of Jay’s scars from the inside and out, and he felt that he was seeing a side of Jay that he had never let anyone else see.

And in that moment, Bruce let go of his worries for the moment, and dedicated himself to Jay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I forgiven yet?
> 
> Daily thoughts on Batjokes: So it's a well known fact that no matter how one looks at the relationship of Batman and the Joker, its all pretty bloody, angsty, and chaotic. It's why it's hard for the whole romance, fluffy idea to work out. But I am kind of entertained by the idea that the relationship could be bloody, angsty, chaotic, but in the form of romance? Why if their relationship is this slow burn, chaotic kind of romantic? Do I make any sense? I don't think I make sense. But anyway, as in this chapter, Bruce kind of sees Jay as a person instead of the crazy mass murderer everyone thinks of. Instead of like other relationships where one person finds out another person's dark side, Bruce sees Jay's less chaotic side. He sees how Jay is actually kind of underrated by his brothers, and he feels like of unimportant at times. I think this is a pretty important part of developing any character - finding out another side of them and the reaction of other characters to that side. 
> 
> Leave me a comment pretty please! Thanks <3


	5. Lost In The Smoke

Jay arched up into Bruce’s bigger body, a ragged gasp tearing from his throat. He clawed more desperately at his scalp, tugging at dark locks with painted nails. Bruce sucked hard at the skin under Jay’s jaw, tasting salt and grease paint and something that was so _Jay_.

Bruce’s leg slid between Jay’s legs and he anchored himself there as he pulled back to look down at Jay for a moment. Jay smiled up at him, not looking directly at Bruce, but turning his face to the side and gave him a more sideways smirk.

Funny how any other time, Bruce’s first thought seeing that smirk would be, _Fuck, he’s up to something._ Now, all he could think was _Fuck, he’s beautiful._

Bruce pressed both hands on either side of Jay’s head. Jay looped his own arms up along Bruce’s and hooked around his neck, pulling him back down. Their mouths crashed together – lips, teeth, and tongue.

Suddenly, nails dug hard into Bruce’s shoulder, and he was pulled backwards with inhuman strength. He stumbled back, off of the bed and away from Jay. His eyes widened when Jack whirled around, completely manic. Jack punched Bruce hard.

Bruce, who had not been dressed for the occasion, only in a white dress shirt, loosened tie, and slacks, crashed into the wall, and Jack pressed his bare arm, sleeves rolled up to his elbows to Bruce’s neck. The tip of a knife rested under Bruce’s chin.

“I don’t know if you’ve been receiving a lack of threats,” Jack breathed, his voice shaking. “But when someone threatens you with death, you run. And you _don’t_ do exactly what they told you not to.”

Bruce’s eyes narrowed. “Well, you’re particularly bad at it too, so I guess I learned from the best, didn’t I?” He looked behind Jack, where John was standing in front of Jay, but facing Bruce and Jack. His arms were crossed and his usual cool, frowning face had deepened into something angrier.

Jack pushed the tip of the knife into Bruce’s skin, drawing blood. “And normally, you would have been killed for having a smart mouth, but we can’t do that now, can we?” Jack’s eyes shifted, and Bruce brought his own arms up through Jack’s and shoved him back hard.

“Jack, I don’t want to fight you! You guys need to get out of here!” Bruce yelled, avoiding the stapler that came flying way too close to his head. “Stop throwing things at me! Can we please just talk this out?!” Bruce winced as a thick book slammed into his stomach.

“Jack, stop!” Jay yelled from behind John, who kept his brother away from flying objects and seeing most of what’s going on. “He didn’t do anything!”

“Damage’s already been done, Jay!” Jack screamed. He tossed a chair at Bruce, who could only shy away. The chair crashed against the door and broke upon impact.

“Jack!” Bruce dived at him, tackling Jack to the messy ground. He pinned the man underneath him. Jack struggled, screaming and yelling incoherent words. Bruce grabbed his clawing hands and held it above his head. “Stop it, just stop.”

Jack was breathing hard, glaring up at Bruce. “Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!” He screamed. He stopped struggling though. “I told you! I warned you! I gave you a fucking chance!” He glared at Bruce’s impassive face. “Don’t just sit there!” He shrieked. He tried to kick Bruce, but he was no match for Bruce’s sheer weight. “Make a move! Fight me!”

“I’m not going to fight you, Jack,” Bruce said calmly. “Just give ma chance to talk.”

“You- You said you didn’t care! You said-” Jack’s yells were cut off by a shattering of glass and something flew in, knocking John to the ground as well. Bruce looked up in alarm, and in that moment’s distraction, Jack buried his knife into Bruce’s thigh.

He pushed Bruce off of him, but before he could continue attacking him, he was pushed up against the wall by a figure in a black leotard and a few bright blue stripes.

Bruce’s eyes narrowed. From the hallway, two more people ran in. One with guns in both hands and another one strapped to his leg, and one with a long black stick.

The tiny room was way too crowded for a good fight, and it had been crowded with four people, but now that there were twice that many, things got a lot more difficult.

Bruce watched in horror as Jason pulled out a fucking crowbar and twirled it like a baton before swinging it down at Jay, who squeaked and rolled out of the way just in time. The metal buried itself in the mattress.

Jack, in his anger fueled frenzy, was going at it with Dick, who, having spent much time in Bludhaven, was not used to Joker’s unpredictable fighting style. He took a few hits that he could have avoided, but he seemed to be holding his own.

Damian was fighting John alone, and had Bruce not been panicking, he would have complimented Damian’s growth in fighting smarter.

And Tim rushed to Bruce’s side.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

Bruce pushed himself up. “I don’t need your help! I had things under control!” Bruce avoided another one of Jack’s knives. He pulled out the knife currently buried in his thigh. He winced as he tried to stand.

Then, the room exploded. Bruce was thrown backwards over the desk. The wall by the bed had blown out, leaving a gaping and smoking hole where it had been. Fire swept across the carpet, eating up pieces of paper, Jay’s drawings, like a vacuum. Everyone had been thrown back. Bruce looked around and only came up with a head count of seven.

A second glance around the room had him running to the edge.

He was nearly pushed out of the way by Jack.

Smoke rose from the alleyway below, and the smell of burnt flesh was evident in the air.

And lying unmoving, on the crushed roof of John’s car, was Jay.


	6. What Our Future Entails

Jack and John had rushed downstairs to grab Jay. That left Bruce alone with the boys in what was left of Jay’s smoking bedroom.

“What the fuck is going on?” Jason demanded.

Bruce looked at them with a resigned and tired expression. “Okay,” he finally said. “I’ll tell you. Let’s just… go home. And I’ll tell you everything.”

~

Back in the cave, Bruce was sitting in his chair, examining the sleeves of his ruined dress shirt. It was dirty and torn in several places. A few spot of blood here and there. Whose, Bruce did not know. His leg had been stitched, cleaned and bound.

Dick leaned against a nearby table, tinkering with some random half made contraption, but Bruce knew he was not at all distracted. Tim leaned against the Batmobile. Jason paced the floor and Damian stood on the walkway, in front of the glass case of retired suits.

“Talk.”

Bruce sighed heavily. He was really dreading this. And so reluctantly, he began to talk.

He started from the beginning. That one day he had been kidnapped and taken into the Jokers’ secret safe house to celebrate their “birthday”. Bruce talked about how they did not actually do him any harm, more irritating that dangerous.

He told them about the three triplets, how they were all slightly different aspects of the clown Gotham knew as the Joker. He left out their names. Names were powerful, and they were personal. Bruce assumed the boys would no appreciate it if he started calling them by their names like they were equals.

Bruce talked about how he had been approached much later, to help find one of the triplets. He left out he breaking into Arkham bit, as well as the Jay showing up at the manor bit. He told them about how Bane was back, but locked up as far as he knew. Bruce could see the dissatisfaction on all of the boys’ faces. Jason did not even bother trying to mask his anger.

Bruce told them how they kept seeking him out at inopportune times, more to annoy him than to wreak havoc. He explained how since their “birthday”, they have not done anything excessively horrible. And he wanted to keep it that way, so he had not been straight out ignoring them.

He left out the parts about his heart to hearts with Jack, or his night long arguments with John with the company of an extra-large pizza (pineapples don’t belong on pizza, John), or his recent incidences with Jay.

There was a thick and tense silence in the cave when Bruce finished. No one spoke for the longest time, hiding their thoughts from Bruce.

“How did they find out who you were?” Tim asked, whirling his bo staff around in his hands.

“I don’t know,” Bruce admitted. “I think they’ve known for a while.”

“Then they know who we are,” Jason said, his voice coming out strained.

“Yes, I’d assume so.”

“How could you do this?” Damian finally exploded, his voice loud and angry. “How could you do this to us, to yourself, and to the people of Gotham? You’re supposed to protect them! Not coddle up to the very criminals that plague their lives! And how can you look past all the things the Joker, sorry, _Jokers_ ,” Damian said with an ugly sneer. “have done? How can you forgive all those innocent deaths? Or Barbara? Or Tim? Or Jason?”

“Thank you!” Jason yelled.

Damian glared at him.

Bruce frowned. “I did not forgive those things. Don’t you dare think for a moment I don’t feel guilty about it! Every time I look at them, I get this horrible crushing feeling in my chest because I remember Barbara and Tim and Jason and all those other people out there who have suffered at the Jokers’ hands! So I _am_ protecting Gotham. I’m just using a different method. Maybe the reason our previous methods have never worked was because they’re wrong. I’m finally making progress. So please, stop intervening.” Bruce has never felt so emotionally tired in a long time.

“Well,” Dick finally said. He had spoken at all since the they arrived back at the cave. “Good job, Bruce. You’ve managed to betray us all. I won’t forgive this. I can’t forgive this. But… I won’t stop you. Your judgement hasn’t exactly failed us yet.” He pushed himself away from the table and started to walk out. “C’mon guys. Let’s go.”

Bruce watched as Tim followed him. Tim gave him a sideways look that was heavy with disappointment, but also acceptance and a tiny bit of respect. Jason stormed out after them.

Damian waited a while. Once the door shut behind Jason, he spoke. “I think I’m going to stay with Grayson for the next week. Tell Pennyworth to send my school things over.” He also started towards the door. The boots of his Robin costume rang against the metal walkway with each heavy step. “I don’t know what to say anymore, Father. I trusted you. I believed in you. But this?” Damian shook his head. “Good-bye.”

~

An hour later, Bruce left. He sat on top of Wayne Enterprises Tower, just thinking. He had taken the cowl off and just let the sharp night wind run through his hair. It was reminiscent of Jay’s long fingers.

With his eyes closed and his head tilted towards the sky, Bruce heard someone approach him from behind.

They stopped a few feet away.

“He’s going to be fine.”

Bruce waited a few seconds before answering. “Where is he now?”

“With a friend. An ex-doctor. He’s in a delicate state. Lots of third-degree burns, a broken arm, collarbone and jaw. Nothing he can’t handle though.”

Bruce finally opened his eyes. He swung his legs over the side of the building and stood. He leaned against the wall of the building and regarded the person standing a few paces away.

“How’d you find me up here?” Bruce asked, more to change the subject than out of curiosity.

“Saw you as you were finishing up your patrol. Though, bit narcissistic, don’t you think?” A sharp chuckle followed.

Bruce allowed himself a wry smile. “Maybe. But I picked this building more because this is where it started, isn’t it, Jack?”

Jack finally turned to look at Bruce. “No, I think it started way before that.”

“Well, the recent developments, at least.” Bruce let the conversation fall into silence. Then, he asked the question that had been on his mind since Jack stepped onto the building. “Can I see him?”

Jack did not answer for a long time. “Why?” He finally asked.

“I feel responsible.”

“You should fucking feel responsible.”

“You’re not mad at me anymore?” Bruce asked.

“I am,” Jack answered. “But it’s not anything special anymore. Same old anger that never really dies.” Jack walked over and leaned against the wall next to Bruce. He exhaled heavily. “But what good does being angry do, right?” He smiled. “Anger is fun for a while, but it’s a very short termed thing. You let the anger build and build and it just becomes this repulsive, controlling component that changes a person.” Jack laughed quietly to himself. He then leaned his head on Bruce’s armored shoulder. “But I guess, sometimes out of anger comes something good. Like you.”

“Are you saying we’re one and the same?”

“No, I’m just implying it,” Jack said simply.

Bruce relaxed a bit, letting his shoulders drop. “Jack, have you ever considered, I don’t know, retiring?”

“Well, crime isn’t exactly a job. It’s more of a creative hobby.”

“I’m serious.”

Jack considered the prospect. “I’ve thought about it once or twice. It was more a fleeting thought than anything. But I suppose I would get bored too easily. And with someone like me, boredom is not good.”

Bruce snorts. “There’s no one like you. Except your brothers.”

Jack smiled widely. “See? Besides, you need me, Batsy.”

“How so?”

“There’s no Batman without the Joker.”

“Really? And where did that outrageous idea come from? Somewhere inside that messed up head of yours? Besides, if you were gone, I’d just have one less Joker to deal with.”

“Ha ha, very funny,” Jack said dryly. “It’s a universal truth. We are like fire and water, lightning and thunder, two sides of the same coin, two examples of the same crazy.”

Bruce just shook his head. “No, I definitely think you’re crazier.” He paused a moment. “So that’s a no to the whole retirement thing? I could totally purchase a nice house for the three of you in the middle of nowhere.”

Jack rolled his eyes. “Not unless you’ll be moving in with us. I’m sure that can be arranged. But other than that, I don’t think we have plans of settling down anytime soon. Though, Jay has always talked about traveling. He’s mentioned seeing the world a few times. But he can’t bear being alone all the time. And John is a mystery even to me.”

“Hm.”

A moment of comfortable silence passed. “How did they take it?” Jack asked.

Bruce winced internally. “Not well. I’m pretty sure I will be finding cameras and tracking devices all over my private rooms now.”

“You can always stay with us,” Jack purred.

“And expect you not to strangle me in my sleep? No thanks.”

Jack made a faux offended noise. “Did you not hear my whole speech about the ‘there’s no Batman without the Joker’?”

Bruce found himself smiling.

~

Jay was not looking well. While his face was mostly untouched, a few scratches here and there, and a few patches of hair shorter than the others, the rest of his body could not be said the same for.

A large patch of his upper left arm was covered in burns that had turned his pale skin black in the worst areas and dark red around it. His other arm had a large cast around it, a brace wrapped around his collarbone area as well. His jaw only had a small fracture, so they just bandaged it up as much as possible since they did not want to jolt the broken collarbone.

Jay’s legs were also covered in varying degrees of burns. A tube had been stuck in his nose to help him breathe, and an IV in his arm. Bruce sat down in the small chair by the bedside that John had vacated when he walked in with Jack. Never has Bruce seen such vulnerability. Jay looked weak and breakable. He looked human.

Many a times, Bruce has seen victims of the Joker’s crimes in a similar state, unconscious on a hospital bed surrounded by worried family. And anyone told Bruce that he would see the Joker in the same position, he would have laughed right in their lying little faces.

Carefully, Bruce reached down and took Jay’s hand. It was cool and did not even twitched as he sandwiched it between his own hands.

John left the room, muttering something about ordering pizza, and Jack sat down in the other chair. The sat in silence for a while, just listening to the metronome-like beeping of the heart monitor, the only sign that Jay was even alive.

“What about you?” Jack asked.

“What about me?”

“Ever thought about retiring?”

“I must say I have. Many times. I’ve always wondered what the hell I’ll do once I’m too old, or broke a bone too many times, or other horrible old people things. And I don’t know. Being Batman has been my whole life. I’ve never thought about a life after it,” Bruce admitted.

They sat in silence for a while longer. Then, Jack reached into his pocket and pulled something out. He handed it over to Bruce as he walked out.

“He would have wanted you to have it.” Jack smiled briefly. “Please be careful with him.”

Bruce unfolded the piece of paper. It was the drawing Jay had given him. It had been crushed and folded, and even ripped in half before being taped back together. The edges were burned and there was blood smeared across the edge. But none of that marred the beauty of the drawing.

Jack’s last words echoed in Bruce’s mind. _“Please be careful with him_.” Obviously it was about Jay, but did Jack want Bruce to be careful with Jay so he would not hurt him? Or did he want Bruce to be careful with Jay because he did not want Bruce hurt? Whatever it meant, one thing was for sure. Those words were Jack’s form of giving permission.

A faint smile appeared on Bruce’s lips. He set the drawing down on Jay’s chest and gently pressed his lips to Jay’s hand and held it there.

Suddenly, a sharp intake of breath filled the room and Jay’s green eyes snapped open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this story! Things got kind of bad, I know, but I hope you still liked it.
> 
> Leave me a comment! <3


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